Every Day British Food

March 18, 2016

Spring has sprung! Easter is next week and this is the perfect time to an old time favorite that will earn you a nod even from Mrs. Patmore.

If you have to ask, then don't worry about it and keep reading.

Think of the this raised pie as the ultra sophisticated meat-loaf wrapped up in a die-to crust. The meat uses all kinds of ground meat and after several trial and errors perfecting the recipe, I felt that the ground pork belly fat is key. It adds moisture to the slab of meat in a way only animal fat can.

The flavors in the meat are wonderful - what with fresh herbs & freshly ground spices you just can;t go wrong.

And then comes the piece de resistance - the boiled water and lard crust. What an invention! I taught this last Saturday in class and most of the folks have been making French pie crusts with me for ages felt that this one was much easier to work with than traditional pie crust. And sturdier.

Of course it would have to be. To bear the weight and encase all that meat. And it is so very forgiving. Even if you muck it up, and your pie crust has more patchwork than a quilt, it still comes out looking and tasting just fabulous.

Best of all the whole thing is best prepared a day head and will serve a crowd. And just in case you didn't hear me before, it just happens to be delicious.

December 10, 2014

Here' s one of the great holiday classics to come out of the Great Britain though variants can be seem all through Europe.

Mincemeat pies are one of the quintissential Christmas eats. Remember Ron Weasley gobbling plateful of these in the Harry Potter films?

But the first step is making the mincemeat filling. If you've ever tried purchasing ready made mincemeat, unless that person is your granny who makes her own and sells it in her own shop, chances are the mincemeat looks like goop.

What it is and is meant to be is a wonderful collection of dryfuits, macerated in brandy or other distilled sugars, with spices, grated fruit and beef suet. Old recipes called for actual meat in the pies but beef suet is now what's used.

It is important to use the shortening (vegetarian if you must) as it lends a smoothness to the filling. The brandy keep it all from going south!

Get started of your mincemeat now and in time for Christmas to give the flavors maximum time to mature.

August 09, 2014

When it comes to preserving the English tradition of Afternoon Tea, few places do it better than 'The Savoy' in London. It is a tradition that began in 1880's and continues to date.

I must have been but 11 years old on my first visit to London and the few things I do remember with clarity are Madame Tussuad's, driving past Buckingham palace & Afternoon Tea at The Savoy.

It was my first time partaking in this genteel British tradition and though I cannot recall in vivid detail what music the pianist was playing or the color of the china & the table linens in The Thames Foyer, I do remember the taste of my first scone (pronounced scawn) & clotted cream and I was hooked!

The blame for my idiosyncrasies when it comes to food must lie squarely on the shoulders of my parents - they exposed me to the good stuff, much to young!

Since then, I have been addicted to Tea Rooms and no matter what continent , country or town I'm in, if there's a Tea Room, you can count on me being there, all in search of that perfect scone (and English Breakfast or Earl Grey). Sadly for most part, I have been disappointed.

After all what makes a scone perfect? Some say flaky, some say tender - Yes, yes but you expect that in a tart too!

The singular most important attribute in my book for a perfect scone is that it must be airy & feather light!

So I was delighted when I found the near perfect scone at The Jefferson Hotel in Richmond, VA and whether it was for my baby showers, birthday or visit from a dear friend, Tea at the Jefferson was always on the agenda.

Which is why, when this sunny weekend afternoon when I pulled my first batch of Orange Cream Scones out of the oven, I stood there with bated breath as Mr. Hubby took his first bite. And I was almost afraid to ask -

"Well, compared to the Jefferson?"

And he said, "Infinitely superior"

Needless to say, my squeal of delight probably woke all the neighbors up from their afternoon naps.

I have been working on preparing the perfect scone for a long time. And though some would day they aren't really the traditional scawn since I do mine a as drop scones, I'd have to say, don't diss it until you've take a bite.

So here we are ~ 'as good as The Savoy' scones at home!

Now traditionally, scones have red currants or raisins and I've fixed them both ways. But my absolute favorite are these here with citrus peel -

So get that cooking apron and pull up those oven mitts dearie , we've got some scones to bake!

December 27, 2013

I am one of these people who attracts computer crashes like a honey attracts bees.

And there is nothing more irritating to a grown woman such as myself than when the computer decides to collapse on me like a souffle and all I can do is stare at the bright blue screen talking rude gibberish in a vocabulary meant clearly for drones and not for humans.

That and the fact that I am further paralyzed from touching something lest I ruin the situation further and so I must wait for techy persons such as Mr. Hubby to come to my rescue. For some unfathomable reason Mr. Hubby like a breed of other techy's seem to have this overwhelming urge to explain all that they're doing to fix the darn thing while they're doing the fixing!

I don't mean to be ungrateful but for one couldn't care less because all I want is this doggone thing fixed so I can get on with it! And the more Mr. Hubby engages in techy drone talk with me the more my brain feels like its being stuffed with cotton wool.

And when I bring this fact kindly to Mr. Hubby's attention he has this to say -"Behind every successful woman is a man....... providing tech support!"

So there you have it - it is under such excruciating circumstances that I have come to the realization that I now have a mere hours before I must cart a large potluck sized steak & ale pie for our community gathering.

Now for most women this wouldn't be a problem because I suspect most women have their recipes nicely categorized in folders and such. Mine are all crammed into the computer - a computer that has only just after extensive CPR has blinked back to life and in the interim valuable time has been lost.

Besides having to compile a grocery list, do the shopping & cooking at neck breaking speed, I have yet another challenge on my hands -

What's the challenge you ask?

Well, traditional steak and ale pie has a lovely puff pastry top that covers the whole thing but since we're going to be so many for us at the gathering I shudder to think what the state of the puff pastry will be after all the shoveling.

The question is, how to prevent the puff pastry from crumbing into smithereens & withstand the digging and prodding?

After a restless night, I had a moment of clarity!

I am channeling the concept behind chicken & dumplings and intend to do the puff pastry topping not an one humongous sheet but rather 2" circles thus making shoveling (around the pastry) all the more easier & so very potluck friendly! See for yourself!

February 18, 2013

Dundee Cake is a famous traditional Scottish fruit cake which is intensely flavorful and though popular throughout the year as a tea cake is especially popular come Christmas time.

Ever since I began reading the English writer, Hazel Holt in her novels featuring Mrs. Mallory in which she'd always find time to bake Dundee cakes in the middle of solving village crimes, I've been baking Dundee cakes and loving them ever since.

The cake is often made with a variety of dried fruits such as currants, golden raisins and almonds as well as candied fruit peels.

The cake originated in 19th century Scotland and was mass produced by the marmalade company, Keiller's and they have since claimed to be the originators of the term "Dundee Cake".

The top of the cake is typically decorated with concentric circles of blanched almonds.

Like all fruit cakes, it is important to bake the cake at a low temperature,
no higher than 325 degrees and preferably much lower - I prefer a slow bake at about 300 deg F.

It is so very important to line the pans with parchment paper to prevent the cakes from burning during the long
baking time which usually ranges for 2 to 2-1/2 hours.

Unlike regular cakes, simply baking for an hour or so as soon as a skewer comes out clean will not do. The cake needs to be rid of excess moisture in a slow long bake since these cakes are meant to keep over long periods of time in a process called ripening.

In fact, fruitcakes taste better with age!

So never serve the cake straight our of the oven. Keep for a few days so they taste their best which in itself takes all the stress out of it!

December 13, 2012

I have no doubt that most of my grocery budget during the months of November and December goes towards dried fruit.

If you've ever tried purchasing candied peel, currants and glazed cherries any other time of the year, you know that it's like pulling teeth. Most grocery stored carry these items seasonally which is why I stock up!

Mostly because many of my holiday recipes require pounds & pounds of the stuff which should tell you that I'm crazy for the old world recipes, come the holidays. From traditional boiled pudding which is a whole other blog post, to Scottish Dundee cake & my Cherry Raisin cake from some years ago, we sure love our dried fruit.

If you're like us and if your love for dried fruit is to second only to your love of brandy in edible bite size pieces, then these boozy cookies have your name all over them.

Ridiculously easy to make and made healthy with use of whole wheat flour and minimal use of butter, they are also excellent for vegetarians since eggs are omitted altogether.

Mind you, biting into these you'll never know! I made a batch of these yesterday for fellow mums & dads who wait with me to collect our younglings at the school bus stop, and not only were polished off with great speed, I had to promise to post the recipe right away - which is what I'm doing.

October 04, 2012

Chicken livers on toast used to be one of our favorite meals when Dad was away and sometimes on a Sunday when he was home.

Sunday was the day, when the newspapers were divvied up between us at the table and passed around - "I'll swap you entertainment for sports and what-not". I miss these rituals - the scent of Sunday morning papers. I'm sentimental that way - I love the smell of books and old paper. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I'll be the last of my species to trade in a real book for a Kindle.

Mum was the first to introduce me to this very British meal. And what a good one it is. Chicken livers are not just for the occasional pâtés and stuffing, they are marvelous pan-fried.

I've taken my childhood recipe as I remember it and tweaked it with some rather grown-up and if I may say so, sophisticated touches. For example, using sherry vinegar instead of sherry and lemon juice and thick slices of a lovely rustic farmhouse bread instead of simple toast as we'd have it back then. The Worcestershire sauce remains as-is and so does the healthy dose of ground black pepper.

The mushrooms are so very good with it and soak up all the pan juices making them uber-delicious.

If there is one thing this meal proves is that you don't need fancy ingredients to make an excellent meal - just good ingredients, a little bit of time and a glass of wine.